We would not have the power to do any of the stuff we do with youngsters if it wasn't for the help we get from native enterprise folk in our group. This isn't a insolent plug for our sponsors, simply recognition of the truth that disregarding we have been in a position to obtain in Dulwich Hill has been a crew effort between church and group.
People normally ask me, "I suppose the church pays for all this, do they". I inform them straight, that our little church in Dulwich Hill has by no means been in a position to aright afford even the token wage for his or her priest, and that the Church with a capital 'C' (ie. the Anglican Diocese of Sydney) has contributed resulting to nothing. No. Almost all our help comes from the three native pubs - the Gladstone, the Royal Exchange, and the Henson Park Hotel - and from the native RSL rank (Petersham). The remainder of it we choose up by means of the Christians vs. Lions combat nights we placed on, and thru different group occasions (eg. the Mayor's golf day, the annual group Street Fair, and so on.).
It wasn't all the time this simple. In the early years we actually struggled to maintain the Youth Centre open. Then we caught the eye of 1 company helper, who was in a position to maintain us going long enough for us to place the opposite help in place. That helper was Ray Williams, former chief government of HIH coverage - one of the mild, caring, and humble males I've ever met, and now one of many to the last degree well-liked males inside the nation.
It amazes me once I give it some thought. Some of the perfect folk I've ever met are folk with atrocious reputations. In every case in fact their reputations have been for the most part media-generated.
When my mate Jim obtained shot, one of many main Sydney newspapers ran story entitled "Evil Villain Gunned Down". It featured an image of Jim carrying an processed weapon. The image had been taken few years earlier throughout Jim's time with the Australian Army. I assumed 'You bastards! That's not the mortal I do know.'
When Morde was on path in Israel I learn quite a good deal of clauses that spoke about him as being a stylish spy - working for the Arabs and bent on destroy his nation. I assumed 'You bastards! You do not know who you power be speaking about.'
Now I learn tales about Ray - about how he manipulated the market to line his mortalal pockets and the way he designedly defrauded thousands and thousands of individuals, and I feel once more 'You bastards'.
Ray was despatched by God to assist us. I've little doubt about that. I first met him by means of a combat I took, although Ray himself was no fan of boxing.
The story of that combat was in itself fairly weird.
I had been sitting with the Archdeacon in my work one afternoon. He was wagging his finger at me and telling me that I'd have to close down the Youth Centre. "You just don't have enough money to keep it going" he expressed. And he was proper. We had been precisely $1000 wanting with the power to pay our youth employee's wage for the resulting month. I used to be feeling comparatively unconcerned about all of it and was telling him to have extra religion. At precisely that second Kon, my coach, got here to the door.
"Dave, do you want to take a pro fight?" he requested. "No" was my knee-jerk response. I'd simply accomplished my combat profession (I'd thought) with a shot on the NSW super-welterweight title in kickboxing. The regulation on this state on the time was that you just necessary to dangle up your gloves if you turned 35. I used to be 34 and 9 months at that stage. "How much are they offering?" I requested Kon. "$1000" he expressed. I privy him I'd take it. We raised near $50,000 for the Youth Centre by means of that combat. More than half of that cash got here by means of Ray.
A man by the title of Jeff Wells wrote an clause about my combat that was written inside the Sydney Morning Herald one Saturday. After that, cheques for as very a good deal like $1000 began arriving inside the mail! Then one morning a courier turned up with two cheques - one for $10,000 inside the title of HIH coverage, and one other for $15,000 inside the title of a Mr R. Williams. I keep in mind trembling once I noninheritable these cheques. I'd by no means seen that a good deal cash earlier than in my life.
I had by no means detected of Ray Williams, yet his enterprise card was hooked up, so I rang the amount and obtained a kind of traditional receptionist voices, expression "Mr Williams is busy at the moment. Can I take a message?" Then I discussed my title and chop-chop I used to be speech Ray.
"Ah ... hi ... do I know you?" I began. "No. I don't think so," he expressed. "You've just sent me cheques for $25,000" I expressed. "Yes" he expressed. "Um ... are you a local from around here? Have you been observance our work?" I requested. "No" he expressed. "Well ... are you connected with the church or with youth work around here?" "No" he expressed. "Well ... are you a fight fan?" I requested, scratching for some level of connection. "Not at all" he expressed. "I read an clause about you in the Herald and it looked like you necessary some help." "Yeah, I do" I expressed. "Well, will that help?" he requested. "Oh yeah" I expressed, "that'll help."
That's how our relationship started. Over the years that adopted Ray took a eager curiosity in our work. As issues at HIH turned tighter, we did not obtain any extra help from the corporate, yet Ray himself would normally flip as a good deal like our fundraiser combat nights, and he would not go away earlier than slipping us a cheque from out of his mortalal funds. It's what stored us going whereas we looked for extra secure sponsorship from the area people. We owe rather a good deal to Ray.
And it wasn't simply the cash. It was the mortal too. He was ennobling in his humility.
At the time of the primary donation we had a man in our church who labored as one of many chief accountants inside the public hospital system. "Oh yeah" he expressed to me one Sunday. "If it wasn't for Ray Williams, half the hospitals in Sydney power be closed." And then he added "but he ne'er likes to have his name mentioned. He hates the limelight"
We discovered this to be entirely true. We managed to get him on stage as soon as to current a prize to one among our fighters, yet it was a hard job. He actually loveless being on the centre of consideration. It's one of many issues that makes this Royal Commission so abominable to him.
I yet cannot consider the best way the media have gone after him - smartly offensive him for his generosity to hospitals and charities. It's not as if he was giving freely cash that ought to have gone to coverage claimants. If he hadn't given it away, I assume it will have barely elevated the dividend paid to the shareholders, and he himself should have been one of many largest shareholders. I yet discover it cockeyed to suppose that the media ought to have acted so self-righteously angry about the truth that the poor shareholders had been falling potential revenue as a result of it had gone to the youngsters's hospital. It's simply ridiculous.
But it wasn't exclusively the media that crucified Ray. Once the information about HIH's collapse turned public data, former colleagues abandoned him, previous pals and associates turned their backs on him, and charities that he'd been supporting for years chop-chop did not need to know him. Ray had been on the board of the Children's Hospital for au revoir as anyone power keep in mind. They despatched him a letter expression 'thanks yet your companies are now not required'. Nobody waited for the outcomes of the Royal Commission. Nobody waited to see if possibly he wasn't the actual villain inside the piece. Everyone distanced themselves, not wanting their very own reputations to be tarnished.
I importantly cannot comprehend that angle. I do know I'm able to doing a bit silly and egocentric issues, yet deserting a mate in his time of want isn't one among them. When I take into consideration all of the those who Ray should have helped through the years, I simply can't consider that none of them thought to ring him up and say 'How are you going, Ray. Perhaps it is my flip to present you some help?'
Anyway, my level right here is to not spit my dummy. And I'll be the primary to confess that I haven't got a clue about large enterprise, coverage legal guidelines, or something of the type. But I do know an superior man once I meet one, and Ray Williams is an efficient man and person whom I'm proud to name my good friend. And I'll be buggered if I'm going stand by and harken to folk gushing crap out on a mate of mine with out expression something.
To be truthful, I do not anticipate that Ray will ever dead regain his former status or standing. I do know an excessive amount of about how the media works and about how our court docket system works to ever anticipate actual justice. As with my pals Jim and Morde, I'm not holding my breath ready for the reality to come back out. No. I'll look for the day when the dominion of this world will turn into the dominion of our Lord and Christ. When that day comes, all of the crap will likely be sorted out.
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